Act 71: Youth Suicide Awareness and Prevention

On June 26, 2014, Act 71 was signed into law in Pennsylvania. This law, which added section 1526 of the School Code, 24 PS § 15-1526, specifically requires school entities to: (1) adopt a youth suicide awareness and prevention policy; and (2) provide ongoing professional development in youth suicide awareness and prevention for professional educators in building serving students in grades 6-12. Additionally, section 1526 specifically permits school entities to incorporate curriculum on this topic into their instructional programs pursuant to their youth suicide awareness and prevention polices. Implementation is to occur during the 15-16 school year.

Delaware County residents have access to integrated Behavioral Health Crisis Services through the Delaware County Crisis Connections Team (DCCCT), a service of the non-profit Elwyn in collaboration with the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health and Magellan Behavioral Health of Pennsylvania, Inc. DCCCT was established to enhance Delaware County’s crisis service system for individuals throughout the county who struggle with emotional and mental health challenges.

The network of services includes a peer-operated Warm Line and Mobile Crisis Service capable of responding to mental health crises in the community. The DCCCT Warm Line (855.464.9342) is a phone helpline that uses Certified Peer Specialist to provide support to individuals who struggle with emotional and mental health challenges. The DCCCT Mobile Crisis Service (1.855.889.7827) is a trained crisis response team available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide on-site mobile crisis assessment, intervention and/or referral services in the individual’s natural environment.

Culturally diverse teams, working in cooperation with the Delaware County Office of Behavioral Health, are dispatched from Elwyn’s centrally located Media campus to respond to a mental health crisis anywhere in the county. For more information on the program or to schedule a presentation, please contact our director, John Muehsam, at 610-891-2173 or muehsamjo@elwyn.org.